Safety door stop



Sept. 25, 1962 G. J. LUTTNER, JR 3,055,043

SAFETY DOOR STOP Filed Sept. 23, 1960 Fig-1 INVENTOR.

660866 J? arr 59, 'fi.

%Wmzqfl v United States This invention relates to a novel and improved safety stop for holding doors ajar.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a more efficient and eifective device of the kind indicated which is especially designed for use on bath room doors, but can be used on any other doors, and which is automatically self-positioning upon opening of a door, between the door jamb and the door, so that the door cannot then be fully closed, unless and until the device is manually reset to its initial position, so that crushing of the fingers of children accidentally placed between the jamb and the door cannot take place, on closing of the door and with the device operatively positioned, as by other children, and the door cannot be closed so as to lock 2. child in a room, such as a bathroom.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a simple and uncomplex device of the character indicated above which can be made in one piece of resilient material, and which serves to absorb the noises and shocks which closing and slamming of doors otherwise produces.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein, for purposes of illustration only, a specific form of the invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic and fragmentary perspective view, showing a device of the invention installed on a door jamb and in operative relation to a door;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the device per se;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic view showing the device in operative position relative to a door and a door jamb, in full lines, and in an inoperative position in phantom lines;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3, the device being shown in normal position in full lines, with the door closed, and moved toward operative position, in phantom lines, by opening of the door; and,

FIGURE 5 is a view like FIGURE 4, showing the device in operative position, in full lines, and holding the door ajar, and in manually retracted position in phantom lines.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals desginate like parts throughout the several views, there is shown a door frame having vertical panels 12 and 14, a door 16 hinged, at 18, on the jamb 14, the door having a free edge 20; and a stop of the present invention, generally designated 22, installed on the jamb 12.

The stop 22 comprises an elongated flat mounting arm 24 having therein a longitudinal slot 26, through which a single mounting screw 28 is extended and threaded into the confronting side 30 of the jamb 12, at a sufiicient height above the floor, to prevent children from reaching the device. The slot 26 provides for adjustable mounting of the stop, to accommodate jambs of different widths and contours.

Fixed on the inner end of the mounting arm 24 is a resilient and flexible hinge member 32 which serves to mount a bumper 34 on the arm 24. In a preferred form of the invention, the device 22 is made as a single body of relatively dense and hard material of limited comatent i ice pressibility, such as molded rubber, wherein the arm 24, the hinge member 32, and the bumper 34 are integral.

The hinge member 32 is substantially thinner than the arm 24, so as to have the required degree of flexibility without sacrifice of adequate support of the bumper 34, and this thinness is preferably achieved by curvedly reducing the inner end portion of the arm 24, at the inner side thereof, as indicated at 36, the outer side 38 of the arm 24 being unreduced.

The bumper 34 is substantially larger in cross-section than and preferably of substantially the same height as the arm 24, and of flat two-third cylindrical form. The bumper 34 has an arcuate peripheral edge 40 which is flat and is uniformly curved, and a flat edge portion 42 which extends to and between the ends of the peripheral edge 40, the diameter of the bumper being such that, when engaged between the door jamb 12 and the door 16, the door will be held practically open or ajar to the desired degree.

The arcuate edge 40 and the inner end of the fiat edge portion 42 meet to define a web 44 of the same crosssection and dimensions as, and integral with and forms a part of the hinge member 32. The composite of the hinge member 22 and the web 44 are angled outwardly out of the plane of the arm 24, so as to dispose the bumper 34 and its flat edge portion 42 at an outward angle of approximately 45 degrees relative to the mounting arm 24, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The stop 22 is installed on the door jamb 12, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 5, so that an inner end portion 46 of the arcuate peripheral edge 40 of the bumper bears against the surface 30 of the jamb 12 and the bumper 34 extends inwardly beyond the jamb 12 into the opening of the door frame 10, so that the door 16 cannot be opened or closed without contacting the bumper 34. The bumper is tensioned against the door jamb by virtue of the fact that the bumper 34, in bearing against the door jamb 12, is deflected relative to the mounting arm 24, which, as shown in FIGURE 2, is initially at a substantially diametrical angle to the bumper.

With the door 16 closed, as shown in FIGURE 4, the peripheral edge portion 46 bears against the outer side of the door 16 and its free edge 20. When the door 16 is opened, from closed position, the door edge 20 earns the bumper 34 outwardly away from the jamb 12, until the door passes the bumper, whereat the bumper springs back against the jamb 12, so that, unless the bumper 34 be manually moved out of the way of the door, as shown in phantom lines in FIGURE 5, from either side of the door, the door cannot be closed beyond an ajar position, as shown in FIGURE 5, so that fingers carelessly engaged around the free edge 20 of the door cannot be caught and injured, between the door and the jamb 12, as would otherwise result from a careless full closing of the door.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the stop 22 can be pivoted on the mounting screw 28, from a horizontal operative positon, to a vertical retracted inoperative position, as shown in phantom lines, when its use is not desired.

As shown in phantom lines in FIGURE 1, the stop 22 can also be mounted on the door frame in line with the latch bolt 46 on the free edge of the door 16, so as to make contact with the latch bolt when the door is opened or closed, so that the stop 22 acts as a positive stop on the bolt 46, so that the door knob 48, connected to the bolt 46, must be turned to close the door. This arrangement can be used on all public and private doors.

Further, because of the limited resilience and compressibility of the bumper 34, careless or forcible closing of the door 16, while the stop is in operative position, cannot produce the noises and shock which would ocour in the absence of the stop.

While there has been shown and described herein a preferred form of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily confined thereto, and that any change or changes in the structure of and in the relative arrangements of components thereof are contemplated as being within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A door stop comprising a mounting arm having an inner end, a bumper, and a resilient hinge member connecting said bumper to the inner end of said mounting arm, said mounting arm being flat and said bumper being of substantially larger cross-section than the mounting arm, said bumper being substantially two-thirds cylindrical, said bumper having an arcuate peripheral edge and a fiat peripheral edge portion extending between the ends of the peripheral edge, said fiat edge portion facing said mounting arm, the meeting of adjacent ends of the flat edge portion and the arcuate edge defining a corner to which said hinge member is connected.

2. A door stop comprising a one-piece body of limited resilience and compressibility, said body comprising a bumper having an arcuate peripheral surface portion, an arm extending outwardly from the bumper at one end of said arcuate surface portion, and a resilient hinge portion connecting said arm to the bumper, said bumper being of substantial thickness and having a flat chordal peripheral surface portion extending between the ends of said arcuate peripheral surface portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 896,242 Ralston Aug. 18, 1908 2,497,611 Jerousek Feb. 14, 1950 2,687,548 Price Aug. 31, 1954 2,726,892 Zynda et al Dec. 13, 1955 2,807,044 Blondy Sept. 24, 1957 2,918,318 Sacharski Dec, 22, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,045,429 France June 24, 1953 385,519 Great Britain Dec. 29, 1932 152,184 Switzerland Jan. 1, 1932 

